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In February, ixgames reported that Bodog would begin an effort to block data mining software from their site in order to appeal to the more casual online poker player. On Wednesday, the site announced the introduction of anonymous poker tables.
The new feature blocks the use of HUDs (Heads Up Displays) and doesn’t allow data-mining sites to collect statistics on the site’s players.
“We believe that introducing these features makes the Bodog Recreational Poker Model a pioneer in the online poker world and offers all players of all abilities the fairest place to play,” said site representative Jonas Odman. “We have shown before that we are not afraid of controversy by changing the way rakeback was viewed and starting to block data mining sites earlier this year and these new features now give players a less biased ‘pure poker’ experience. To my mind the software and Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model is a genuine game changer.”
The site also announced a new “rabbit cam,” which allows players to see which cards would have been dealt even after the hand is won.
Bodog’s other announced changes include in-client Blackjack, new tournament formats, improved site speed and the ability to play up to 20 tables at a time.
BODOG POKER
The new feature blocks the use of HUDs (Heads Up Displays) and doesn’t allow data-mining sites to collect statistics on the site’s players.
“We believe that introducing these features makes the Bodog Recreational Poker Model a pioneer in the online poker world and offers all players of all abilities the fairest place to play,” said site representative Jonas Odman. “We have shown before that we are not afraid of controversy by changing the way rakeback was viewed and starting to block data mining sites earlier this year and these new features now give players a less biased ‘pure poker’ experience. To my mind the software and Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model is a genuine game changer.”
The site also announced a new “rabbit cam,” which allows players to see which cards would have been dealt even after the hand is won.
Bodog’s other announced changes include in-client Blackjack, new tournament formats, improved site speed and the ability to play up to 20 tables at a time.
BODOG POKER
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2006/12/07
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29893
Bodog's Poker upgraded our client and we've made playing in the best online poker room even better with a faster interface that's easier to navigate and — most importantly — made online poker more fun. What's changed with the new client? Here's a partial list and you can find out much, much more when you visit our online poker software page!
New Tournament Formats
We've listened to our players and we're now offering a much broader variety of tournaments, including Omaha and Shootout events as well as Heads Up tournaments. They're all included in the "Scheduled Tournaments" tab in the poker lobby.
In-Client Blackjack
Want to take some time away from poker? Everyone's other favorite card game is just a couple of clicks away. Your poker balance can be applied to your blackjack play and vice versa — no need to buy chips!
Anonymous Tables
Want to start fresh? Our new anonymous online poker tables create a level playing field. It's the same thing as visiting a new casino and sitting across from players you don't know.
Rabbit Cam
Find out what the next card would have been when a hand completes after the flop or turn but before the river has been dealt. It'll satisfy your curiosity and let you know if you made the right play in folding or if that other player may have made a set.
This is just the beginning of what Bodog's new client offers our players! Download now and find out how else we've made your online poker experience better than ever.
New Tournament Formats
We've listened to our players and we're now offering a much broader variety of tournaments, including Omaha and Shootout events as well as Heads Up tournaments. They're all included in the "Scheduled Tournaments" tab in the poker lobby.
In-Client Blackjack
Want to take some time away from poker? Everyone's other favorite card game is just a couple of clicks away. Your poker balance can be applied to your blackjack play and vice versa — no need to buy chips!
Anonymous Tables
Want to start fresh? Our new anonymous online poker tables create a level playing field. It's the same thing as visiting a new casino and sitting across from players you don't know.
Rabbit Cam
Find out what the next card would have been when a hand completes after the flop or turn but before the river has been dealt. It'll satisfy your curiosity and let you know if you made the right play in folding or if that other player may have made a set.
This is just the beginning of what Bodog's new client offers our players! Download now and find out how else we've made your online poker experience better than ever.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
A new study by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission projects an intrastate online poker operator could expect to make between $13 million to $60 million yearly if the Legislature and Gov. Terry Branstad choose to legalize the activity that regulators and gaming industry officials believe is currently going on unregulated in Iowa.
That level of new gaming activity could generate a potential boost in the state’s gambling revenue of $3 million to $13 million annually if one or more online poker operators paid roughly the same level of tax on profits currently assessed to most of the state-licensed riverboats and racetrack-casinos. However, the study indicated the tax rate might be adjusted to reflect that an online operation would not have the same costs associated with operating a “bricks-and-mortar” casino, according to the 106-page report issued Thursday.
Projections from several models used in the commission’s research estimated the number of online poker players in a range from 34,500 up to 172,500, although the study conceded the assumptions were based on a small number of forecasts from which researchers applied a 1 percent estimate for Iowa-related activity given that the state’s 3 million population is about 1 percent of the nation’s 300 million residents.
Gambling industry officials contended last session that estimated 150,000 Iowa players already are engaging in online poker via illegal offshore operations. Commission staff attempted to verify that claim and another estimate that the illegal activity would result in up to $35 million in yearly tax revenue in the state if lawmakers brought it under state regulation, but was unable to get corroborating data from industry officials who did not want to divulge proprietary information.
“The estimates vary greatly in range mostly due to two key elements: the current state of internet poker is illegal and, as such, determining the current market size is extremely difficult, and the quantity of assumptions made by each study in order to form a basis for their calculations is high,” according to the report requested by the Legislature.
“The level of current play and projected market play for an intrastate product in Iowa varies but all assumptions agree that illegal play is currently happening and that a portion of that play along with new interest would support a legal network,” the report stated.
Commission staff provided information on several models that might be considered if lawmakers decided to legalize online poker within Iowa’s borders, but also cited challenges in verifying the ages of players and their physical locations and provided potentials methods to address possible problems areas.
Ketterer said the report was intended to frame the possible regulatory structure and safeguards the commission would use should lawmakers decide to allow intrastate online poker games. The report did not include a recommendation whether the activity should be legalized in Iowa.
Commission Administrator Jack Ketterer said the report would be forwarded to state lawmakers to use in their deliberations if the issue of legalizing online poker in Iowa comes before them during the 2012 session that starts next month.
“Our goal was fact finding and information gathering that could help the legislators who might face bills to be better informed so they could make a public policy decision that was in the best interest of Iowa,” Ketterer said in an interview.
Based on the research, Ketterer said he believe the state agency would be able to regulate the online poker activity should the legal hurdles be cleared.
“How strictly it could be regulated might differ in different legislators’ eyes,” he added. “Our goal was to inform them as to what’s out there, what is the status of the industry right now, and then they can hopefully draw conclusions as to whether this is something that can or can’t be regulated to their personal desire and that they would be comfortable with. It’s kind of in the eye of the beholder.”
Key features of legislation that stalled last session would have authorized the creation of an intrastate online poker network and provide a regulatory structure for its implementation, operation and taxation. Senate File 458 also envisioned an authorized online poker hub operator under the control of the state Racing and Gaming Commission that would contract with state-licensed casinos to operate affiliated online sites within a “closed loop” in Iowa for registered players aged 21 and older.
That level of new gaming activity could generate a potential boost in the state’s gambling revenue of $3 million to $13 million annually if one or more online poker operators paid roughly the same level of tax on profits currently assessed to most of the state-licensed riverboats and racetrack-casinos. However, the study indicated the tax rate might be adjusted to reflect that an online operation would not have the same costs associated with operating a “bricks-and-mortar” casino, according to the 106-page report issued Thursday.
Projections from several models used in the commission’s research estimated the number of online poker players in a range from 34,500 up to 172,500, although the study conceded the assumptions were based on a small number of forecasts from which researchers applied a 1 percent estimate for Iowa-related activity given that the state’s 3 million population is about 1 percent of the nation’s 300 million residents.
Gambling industry officials contended last session that estimated 150,000 Iowa players already are engaging in online poker via illegal offshore operations. Commission staff attempted to verify that claim and another estimate that the illegal activity would result in up to $35 million in yearly tax revenue in the state if lawmakers brought it under state regulation, but was unable to get corroborating data from industry officials who did not want to divulge proprietary information.
“The estimates vary greatly in range mostly due to two key elements: the current state of internet poker is illegal and, as such, determining the current market size is extremely difficult, and the quantity of assumptions made by each study in order to form a basis for their calculations is high,” according to the report requested by the Legislature.
“The level of current play and projected market play for an intrastate product in Iowa varies but all assumptions agree that illegal play is currently happening and that a portion of that play along with new interest would support a legal network,” the report stated.
Commission staff provided information on several models that might be considered if lawmakers decided to legalize online poker within Iowa’s borders, but also cited challenges in verifying the ages of players and their physical locations and provided potentials methods to address possible problems areas.
Ketterer said the report was intended to frame the possible regulatory structure and safeguards the commission would use should lawmakers decide to allow intrastate online poker games. The report did not include a recommendation whether the activity should be legalized in Iowa.
Commission Administrator Jack Ketterer said the report would be forwarded to state lawmakers to use in their deliberations if the issue of legalizing online poker in Iowa comes before them during the 2012 session that starts next month.
“Our goal was fact finding and information gathering that could help the legislators who might face bills to be better informed so they could make a public policy decision that was in the best interest of Iowa,” Ketterer said in an interview.
Based on the research, Ketterer said he believe the state agency would be able to regulate the online poker activity should the legal hurdles be cleared.
“How strictly it could be regulated might differ in different legislators’ eyes,” he added. “Our goal was to inform them as to what’s out there, what is the status of the industry right now, and then they can hopefully draw conclusions as to whether this is something that can or can’t be regulated to their personal desire and that they would be comfortable with. It’s kind of in the eye of the beholder.”
Key features of legislation that stalled last session would have authorized the creation of an intrastate online poker network and provide a regulatory structure for its implementation, operation and taxation. Senate File 458 also envisioned an authorized online poker hub operator under the control of the state Racing and Gaming Commission that would contract with state-licensed casinos to operate affiliated online sites within a “closed loop” in Iowa for registered players aged 21 and older.
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2006/12/07
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29893
In a bold move catering to the recreational and casual poker players that the site aims to attract, the Bodog Poker Network has rolled out new software that removes players’ screen names from the poker tables of cash and tournament real money games, allowing players to play completely anonymously to avoid more experienced players from using poker-tracking software to gain an edge over casual players.
In a press release announcing the admittedly “controversial” move that “will send shockwaves through the online poker playing community,” Bodog Poker‘s new all-site anonymous tables are designed to “stop poker pros accessing any data on how you play your game via the use of HUDs and other data mining sites like PokerTableRatings (PTR) and SharkScope.”
With the new software, the screen names of players have been replaced with seat numbers and player images have also been deleted. In so doing, it is impossible to study hand histories and tendencies of other players because no players are named or identified.
“We believe that introducing these features makes the Bodog Recreational Poker Model a pioneer in the online poker world and offers all players of all abilities the fairest place to play,” Bodog Poker Network Vice President Jonas Odman said. “We have shown before that we are not afraid of controversy by changing the way rakeback was viewed and starting to block data mining sites earlier this year and these new features now give players a less biased ‘pure poker’ experience. To my mind, the software and Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model is a genuine game changer.”
Other poker sites have flirted with various forms of player anonymity. PartyPoker permits regular changes to screen names and has offered optional anonymous poker tables for heads-up action. The Microgaming Poker Network has featured similar anonymity on heads-up tables for a year or so and is making plans to increase its anonymous table offerings. Cake Poker has long touted its players’ option to change their screen names and had banned the usage of all HUDs, until recently.
However, this marks the very first time a major poker network has made the ground-breaking decision to remove all player screen names of all games, cash and tournament. Bodog’s plan actually began in September when the site removed full tables from its lobby to prevent data mining sites such as PTR and network traffic-tracking sites like PokerScout to obtain player information, thereby confounding professional players who use that information to prey on weaker players.
The announcement and press release by Bodog received much criticism from players who are concerned about issues such as collusion and bots that might be more difficult to detect when a suspect player’s history cannot be tracked. A player named Tom posted the following on the Bodog site in reaction to the press release: “Bodog is right, this is a game changer as in the worst idea/platform ever created in online poker, raising questions of the integrity of the games. How do I know I’m not playing against colluders who now could do that very easy? How do I know I’m not playing against bots by Bodog? Do I just take their word for it?”
Odman responded to Tom’s concerns by saying, “Even though we have launched Anonymous Tables, players are not anynomous to us, and we will keep monitoring the games for collusion and bots. We have even strengthened our tools in the back-end for that.”
But Tom does have a point because most forms of online cheating such as player collusion, chip-dumping, bots and super-users who have gained the ability to see hole cards of other players are often discovered by players themselves. To simply rely on the actual poker sites to be fair, honest and operating with integrity in the best interest of players has historically been a terrible idea. One need look no further than Full Tilt Poker to realize that poker sites sometimes hide the truth.
The founder of Bodog Network, Calvin Ayre, had this to say about cheating and casual players, “He [Odman} is overseeing a system that will be very very good an ensuring there are not bots or inappropriate collusion going on. Recreational players are not good at spotting this, so this is necessary no matter how the system is designed.”
In addition to playing anonymously, Bodog has announced other features present in its new software designed to benefit the casual poker player. A more competitive rake structure, multi-tabling, improved site speed and accessibility, In-Client Blackjack, new formats in tournaments and a rabbit cam that allows players to see the cards that would’ve been dealt had the folded hand continued to the river.
In theory, the move to anonymous tables does sound like a good idea for recreational poker players. Only time will tell if it will prove to be a good move for the online poker industry as a whole.
In a press release announcing the admittedly “controversial” move that “will send shockwaves through the online poker playing community,” Bodog Poker‘s new all-site anonymous tables are designed to “stop poker pros accessing any data on how you play your game via the use of HUDs and other data mining sites like PokerTableRatings (PTR) and SharkScope.”
With the new software, the screen names of players have been replaced with seat numbers and player images have also been deleted. In so doing, it is impossible to study hand histories and tendencies of other players because no players are named or identified.
“We believe that introducing these features makes the Bodog Recreational Poker Model a pioneer in the online poker world and offers all players of all abilities the fairest place to play,” Bodog Poker Network Vice President Jonas Odman said. “We have shown before that we are not afraid of controversy by changing the way rakeback was viewed and starting to block data mining sites earlier this year and these new features now give players a less biased ‘pure poker’ experience. To my mind, the software and Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model is a genuine game changer.”
Other poker sites have flirted with various forms of player anonymity. PartyPoker permits regular changes to screen names and has offered optional anonymous poker tables for heads-up action. The Microgaming Poker Network has featured similar anonymity on heads-up tables for a year or so and is making plans to increase its anonymous table offerings. Cake Poker has long touted its players’ option to change their screen names and had banned the usage of all HUDs, until recently.
However, this marks the very first time a major poker network has made the ground-breaking decision to remove all player screen names of all games, cash and tournament. Bodog’s plan actually began in September when the site removed full tables from its lobby to prevent data mining sites such as PTR and network traffic-tracking sites like PokerScout to obtain player information, thereby confounding professional players who use that information to prey on weaker players.
The announcement and press release by Bodog received much criticism from players who are concerned about issues such as collusion and bots that might be more difficult to detect when a suspect player’s history cannot be tracked. A player named Tom posted the following on the Bodog site in reaction to the press release: “Bodog is right, this is a game changer as in the worst idea/platform ever created in online poker, raising questions of the integrity of the games. How do I know I’m not playing against colluders who now could do that very easy? How do I know I’m not playing against bots by Bodog? Do I just take their word for it?”
Odman responded to Tom’s concerns by saying, “Even though we have launched Anonymous Tables, players are not anynomous to us, and we will keep monitoring the games for collusion and bots. We have even strengthened our tools in the back-end for that.”
But Tom does have a point because most forms of online cheating such as player collusion, chip-dumping, bots and super-users who have gained the ability to see hole cards of other players are often discovered by players themselves. To simply rely on the actual poker sites to be fair, honest and operating with integrity in the best interest of players has historically been a terrible idea. One need look no further than Full Tilt Poker to realize that poker sites sometimes hide the truth.
The founder of Bodog Network, Calvin Ayre, had this to say about cheating and casual players, “He [Odman} is overseeing a system that will be very very good an ensuring there are not bots or inappropriate collusion going on. Recreational players are not good at spotting this, so this is necessary no matter how the system is designed.”
In addition to playing anonymously, Bodog has announced other features present in its new software designed to benefit the casual poker player. A more competitive rake structure, multi-tabling, improved site speed and accessibility, In-Client Blackjack, new formats in tournaments and a rabbit cam that allows players to see the cards that would’ve been dealt had the folded hand continued to the river.
In theory, the move to anonymous tables does sound like a good idea for recreational poker players. Only time will tell if it will prove to be a good move for the online poker industry as a whole.
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2006/12/07
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29893
A report issued today by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission opens the door for a full-fledged debate by state lawmakers in 2012 over allowing Internet poker within Iowa’s borders.
The study, which was requested by the legislature last session, outlines how state officials could establish a regulatory framework to permit Internet poker games played by Iowa residents.
The research estimates poker operators could pull in a “rake” of between $13 million to $60 million annually from Iowa’s Internet poker players. Assuming a tax rate of 22 percent – similar to Iowa casino taxes – these projections indicate an estimated $3 million to $13 million in potential tax revenue to the state annually.
Nevada was the first state to legalize intrastate Internet gambling, but the District of Columbia is the first to begin implementation, although operations haven’t started yet, officials said. The U.S. Justice Department has taken the stance that Internet gambling across state borders violates federal law.
Some poker experts have said the business model in Iowa could fall apart if there are not enough in-state players to make the games attractive. But other experts contend there are thousands of Iowans already playing online poker games through off-shore companies.
Jack Ketterer, administrator of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, said in an interview the report does not make any recommendations whether state lawmakers should proceed with implementing Internet poker in Iowa.
“I think that is really a public policy question. I think that in some of our lawmakers’ eyes it may be and in some of them it may not be,” Ketterer said.
Ketterer also said that if lawmakers authorize state-regulated Internet poker games, Iowa’s three Indian tribes will also likely be offered the same opportunity under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Tribal casino gambling is now offered in Iowa by the Meskwaki tribe near Tama, by the Omaha tribe near Onawa and by the Winnebago tribe near Sloan.
The study, which was requested by the legislature last session, outlines how state officials could establish a regulatory framework to permit Internet poker games played by Iowa residents.
The research estimates poker operators could pull in a “rake” of between $13 million to $60 million annually from Iowa’s Internet poker players. Assuming a tax rate of 22 percent – similar to Iowa casino taxes – these projections indicate an estimated $3 million to $13 million in potential tax revenue to the state annually.
Nevada was the first state to legalize intrastate Internet gambling, but the District of Columbia is the first to begin implementation, although operations haven’t started yet, officials said. The U.S. Justice Department has taken the stance that Internet gambling across state borders violates federal law.
Some poker experts have said the business model in Iowa could fall apart if there are not enough in-state players to make the games attractive. But other experts contend there are thousands of Iowans already playing online poker games through off-shore companies.
Jack Ketterer, administrator of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, said in an interview the report does not make any recommendations whether state lawmakers should proceed with implementing Internet poker in Iowa.
“I think that is really a public policy question. I think that in some of our lawmakers’ eyes it may be and in some of them it may not be,” Ketterer said.
Ketterer also said that if lawmakers authorize state-regulated Internet poker games, Iowa’s three Indian tribes will also likely be offered the same opportunity under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Tribal casino gambling is now offered in Iowa by the Meskwaki tribe near Tama, by the Omaha tribe near Onawa and by the Winnebago tribe near Sloan.
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2006/12/07
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With the recent announcement that Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) will be retiring from Congress at the conclusion of the current term, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) praised the 71-year-old lawmaker’s efforts to legalize online poker.
“Congressman Barney Frank has been a champion for Americans’ civil liberties,” PPA Executive Director John Pappas said. “His longtime support for the freedom of adults to play online poker in a safe and regulated environment has been invaluable to our organization and to the interests of the entire poker community.”
Pappas also added that the 16-term politician’s proposed online gaming legislation could someday be responsible for online poker in the U.S. to be legalized. “The introduction and passage of HR 2267 through the House Financial Services Committee last year helped build the foundation for the online poker legislative proposals under consideration today. The poker playing community will continue to build on the foundation established by Congressman Frank and we will forever be grateful for his fight for our personal freedoms.”
As the main lobbying faction for American poker players, the PPA now counts 1.2 million members among its ranks. In working in conjunction with Frank and various other internet poker advocates in Washington in recent years, the organization will now have to turn to other lawmakers to take Frank’s role in the push for online poker legalization.
“While Congressman Frank may have been the first and most recognizable champion for internet gaming, other elected officials have followed his lead over the years,” Pappas said. “Today, the poker community has dozens of lawmakers who are eager to support our freedoms and the support is bipartisan. From Joe Barton (R-TX) to Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) to Steve Israel (D-NY) to John Campbell (R-CA), we are in a solid position of Congressional support moving forward.”
Campbell co-sponsored HR1174 with Frank, while Barton introduced HR2366, which proposes to legalize online poker through state-licensed agencies. Barton’s bill is thought to near markup after being debated heavily in the two hearings before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held in October and November.
PPA Vice President of Player Relations Rich Muny also heaped praise on Frank’s efforts on behalf of the poker-playing community. “Representative Frank has been a true champion for the rights of poker players. He stood up for us [players] before the PPA stood up for us. He was on the floor against the UIGEA before poker players were doing the same thing.”
It is expected that Frank will work toward the passage of online poker legislation through his final term in office, which will conclude next year.
“He’s invested in our issue.” Muny said. “I would expect for him to continue on as a champion on individual liberties. If he finds a way to make online poker legal, I would expect him to be supportive of it.”
“Congressman Barney Frank has been a champion for Americans’ civil liberties,” PPA Executive Director John Pappas said. “His longtime support for the freedom of adults to play online poker in a safe and regulated environment has been invaluable to our organization and to the interests of the entire poker community.”
Pappas also added that the 16-term politician’s proposed online gaming legislation could someday be responsible for online poker in the U.S. to be legalized. “The introduction and passage of HR 2267 through the House Financial Services Committee last year helped build the foundation for the online poker legislative proposals under consideration today. The poker playing community will continue to build on the foundation established by Congressman Frank and we will forever be grateful for his fight for our personal freedoms.”
As the main lobbying faction for American poker players, the PPA now counts 1.2 million members among its ranks. In working in conjunction with Frank and various other internet poker advocates in Washington in recent years, the organization will now have to turn to other lawmakers to take Frank’s role in the push for online poker legalization.
“While Congressman Frank may have been the first and most recognizable champion for internet gaming, other elected officials have followed his lead over the years,” Pappas said. “Today, the poker community has dozens of lawmakers who are eager to support our freedoms and the support is bipartisan. From Joe Barton (R-TX) to Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) to Steve Israel (D-NY) to John Campbell (R-CA), we are in a solid position of Congressional support moving forward.”
Campbell co-sponsored HR1174 with Frank, while Barton introduced HR2366, which proposes to legalize online poker through state-licensed agencies. Barton’s bill is thought to near markup after being debated heavily in the two hearings before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held in October and November.
PPA Vice President of Player Relations Rich Muny also heaped praise on Frank’s efforts on behalf of the poker-playing community. “Representative Frank has been a true champion for the rights of poker players. He stood up for us [players] before the PPA stood up for us. He was on the floor against the UIGEA before poker players were doing the same thing.”
It is expected that Frank will work toward the passage of online poker legislation through his final term in office, which will conclude next year.
“He’s invested in our issue.” Muny said. “I would expect for him to continue on as a champion on individual liberties. If he finds a way to make online poker legal, I would expect him to be supportive of it.”
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2006/12/07
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Two men charged in a case that shut down U.S. operations for three Internet poker companies are likely to go on trial in March, a judge told lawyers Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan listened to arguments that included the question of whether poker can be considered gambling before telling the attorneys for former bank executive John Campos and co-defendant Chad Elie that a March 12 trial was almost. “I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely that the entire indictment will be dismissed,” Kaplan said.
Campos and Elie appear to be the only men headed to trial after a dozen people were charged in the Internet gambling case. About half of those charged were never arrested and remain overseas while other cases seem likely to be resolved without a trial.
Campos formerly worked at SunFirst Bank in St. George, Utah. The bank processed money for foreign-based online poker sites PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors sought $3 billion in money laundering penalties and forfeiture after bringing the charges against those who enabled the U.S. operations of three companies based overseas: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
The indictment said the companies ran afoul of the law after the U.S. in October 2006 enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which makes it a crime for gambling businesses to knowingly accept most forms of payment in connection with the participation of another person in unlawful Internet gambling.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Harlo Devlin-Brown told Kaplan that Congress did not intend to protect companies that knowingly process financial transactions for Internet gambling companies. He said Congress did intend to give a pass to cable companies, banks or Internet service providers in Internet gambling prosecutions unless they take a controlling role in gambling businesses.
Frederick Hafetz, a lawyer for Campos, argued that Campos and Elie are exempt from prosecution in the same way that the government maintains a cable company or an Internet provider should be exempt. He said the men were not involved in the businesses of the Internet poker companies.
Paul Clement, a lawyer for Elie, said Congress never intended to outlaw poker or Internet poker games, possibly because U.S. representatives and senators enjoyed the games themselves.
It was left undecided whether a jury will be left to decide if playing poker is considered gambling in New York.
Kaplan said it would be “very interesting to see whether there are 12 potential jurors in New York in this environment who think poker is not gambling or have no opinion on it.”
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan listened to arguments that included the question of whether poker can be considered gambling before telling the attorneys for former bank executive John Campos and co-defendant Chad Elie that a March 12 trial was almost. “I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely that the entire indictment will be dismissed,” Kaplan said.
Campos and Elie appear to be the only men headed to trial after a dozen people were charged in the Internet gambling case. About half of those charged were never arrested and remain overseas while other cases seem likely to be resolved without a trial.
Campos formerly worked at SunFirst Bank in St. George, Utah. The bank processed money for foreign-based online poker sites PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors sought $3 billion in money laundering penalties and forfeiture after bringing the charges against those who enabled the U.S. operations of three companies based overseas: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
The indictment said the companies ran afoul of the law after the U.S. in October 2006 enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which makes it a crime for gambling businesses to knowingly accept most forms of payment in connection with the participation of another person in unlawful Internet gambling.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Harlo Devlin-Brown told Kaplan that Congress did not intend to protect companies that knowingly process financial transactions for Internet gambling companies. He said Congress did intend to give a pass to cable companies, banks or Internet service providers in Internet gambling prosecutions unless they take a controlling role in gambling businesses.
Frederick Hafetz, a lawyer for Campos, argued that Campos and Elie are exempt from prosecution in the same way that the government maintains a cable company or an Internet provider should be exempt. He said the men were not involved in the businesses of the Internet poker companies.
Paul Clement, a lawyer for Elie, said Congress never intended to outlaw poker or Internet poker games, possibly because U.S. representatives and senators enjoyed the games themselves.
It was left undecided whether a jury will be left to decide if playing poker is considered gambling in New York.
Kaplan said it would be “very interesting to see whether there are 12 potential jurors in New York in this environment who think poker is not gambling or have no opinion on it.”
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Five gaming entities have already applied for a license to do business in a Nevada-based Internet poker system that would offer the game to residents.
888 Holdings, International Game Technology, Bally Technologies and Cantor Gaming have submitted paper work to regulators, according to public records received from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. South Point Poker has applied to be licensed, but has not turned in a formal application yet, according to a source at the Control Board.
Gibraltar-based online poker operator 888 Holdings filed as a public traded corporation called 888 US Limited. The company is seeking to exist as a manufacturer, distributor and service provider in Nevada.
Service providers will be in charge of maintaining and running the web poker software for a licensed operator.
In March 2011, Nevada gaming regulators approved of the suitability of a relationship between Caesars Entertainment, owner of the World Series of Poker brand, with subsidiaries of 888 Holdings. The arrangement, the first of its kind for a Nevada licensee, gave Caesars Entertainment the OK operate a site in the United Kingdom.
Las Vegas-based IGT sent an application to the Control Board to function as a manufacturer and service provider. The company is a global producer of computerized gaming machines.
Earlier this year IGT purchased the Swedish-based Entraction — a poker network with 112 rooms — for more than $100 million.
Like IGT, Bally Technologies, also headquartered in Las Vegas, applied to be a manufacturer and service provider of an online poker system.
Las Vegas’ Cantor Gaming, which was the first company licensed in the state to operate mobile gaming devices, applied to be a service provider. Cantor Gaming is a race and sports book operator at a handful of resorts in Nevada, but would be limited to poker in its potential Internet venture. South Point Poker is the online poker room of South Point Casino, according to the operator’s website. The free site is already running games, and the company intends to offer real money play once it’s permissible.
South Point Poker is seeking to be an operator of Internet poker.
888 Holdings, IGT, Bally Technologies and South Point Poker applied in October. Cantor Gaming filed on May 18 — about a month before Nevada’s legislation that permits Internet poker was signed into law.
Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli told Card Player that reviewing some of the submitted paper work is underway, despite regulations for the industry not yet being finalized and adopted.
Regulators will reconvene toward the end of December to continue to iron out the language in the regulatory drafts, which must be finished by the end of January.
February would be the earliest possible time a real-money online poker site could be running in the Silver State, but Lipparelli said laboratory testing and approval of software and other technologies will likely take longer than issuing licenses.
888 Holdings, International Game Technology, Bally Technologies and Cantor Gaming have submitted paper work to regulators, according to public records received from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. South Point Poker has applied to be licensed, but has not turned in a formal application yet, according to a source at the Control Board.
Gibraltar-based online poker operator 888 Holdings filed as a public traded corporation called 888 US Limited. The company is seeking to exist as a manufacturer, distributor and service provider in Nevada.
Service providers will be in charge of maintaining and running the web poker software for a licensed operator.
In March 2011, Nevada gaming regulators approved of the suitability of a relationship between Caesars Entertainment, owner of the World Series of Poker brand, with subsidiaries of 888 Holdings. The arrangement, the first of its kind for a Nevada licensee, gave Caesars Entertainment the OK operate a site in the United Kingdom.
Las Vegas-based IGT sent an application to the Control Board to function as a manufacturer and service provider. The company is a global producer of computerized gaming machines.
Earlier this year IGT purchased the Swedish-based Entraction — a poker network with 112 rooms — for more than $100 million.
Like IGT, Bally Technologies, also headquartered in Las Vegas, applied to be a manufacturer and service provider of an online poker system.
Las Vegas’ Cantor Gaming, which was the first company licensed in the state to operate mobile gaming devices, applied to be a service provider. Cantor Gaming is a race and sports book operator at a handful of resorts in Nevada, but would be limited to poker in its potential Internet venture. South Point Poker is the online poker room of South Point Casino, according to the operator’s website. The free site is already running games, and the company intends to offer real money play once it’s permissible.
South Point Poker is seeking to be an operator of Internet poker.
888 Holdings, IGT, Bally Technologies and South Point Poker applied in October. Cantor Gaming filed on May 18 — about a month before Nevada’s legislation that permits Internet poker was signed into law.
Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli told Card Player that reviewing some of the submitted paper work is underway, despite regulations for the industry not yet being finalized and adopted.
Regulators will reconvene toward the end of December to continue to iron out the language in the regulatory drafts, which must be finished by the end of January.
February would be the earliest possible time a real-money online poker site could be running in the Silver State, but Lipparelli said laboratory testing and approval of software and other technologies will likely take longer than issuing licenses.
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2006/12/07
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On Saturday, Dec. 17, 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth will return to his native Madison, Wisconsin, for the 2nd Annual Hellmuth’s Hold’em with Agrace HospiceCare. All proceeds from the event, which will feature a tournament, silent auction, and raffle, will go to Agrace HospiceCare. Among the prizes to be won include a seat to the 2012 World Series of Poker and a two-year lease of a 2012 Zimbrick Honda CR-V LX — both of which will be a part of the raffle.
"It will be tough to top last year's jet-fueled, energy-laced event! But we aim to, when I hit Mad-town for Phil Hellmuth's Hold’em with HospiceCare 2011 on December 17," Hellmuth said. “This is going to be the night to remember in Madison, all to help Agrace HospiceCare and the good it does for the community.”
Agrace HospiceCare is a nonprofit, community-based hospice dedicated to providing expert physical, emotional and spiritual support to patients and families dealing with life-limiting conditions. Agrace HospiceCare is nationally recognized for its comprehensive in-home, inpatient, respite, and residential care, and the hospice services Agrace HospiceCare provides in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities throughout south central Wisconsin."
At the event, a mix of poker pros and local celebrities will be in attendance and serving as Hellmuth’s guests, who will be moved from table to table during the tournament to socialize with participants. Poker pros who are slated to attend include Annette Obrestad, Dewey Weum, Tony “D1rtyR1v3r” Nardi, and Wisconsin native, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, who was featured on the PokerNews Podcast recently.
Former NFL and UW Badgers football player, Derek Engler, professional golfer, Jerry Kelly, Olympic gold medalist Casey FitzRandolph, Madison mayor, Paul Soglin, UW Badgers women’s hockey coach and member of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team, Mark Johnson, and local news anchors Carleen Wild, Charlie Shortino, and Leigh Mills are among the athletes and celebrities scheduled to attend.
“That’s what we’re trying to do, to get the guys who’re coming home for the holidays. That’s how we get Baldwin and Phil,” said tournament director and event organizer, Steve Verrett. “Actually, that’s how we started this was with Phil coming home for the holidays and having him do a charity event. We came up with this idea and it got really big last year. It’s a great time.”
In 2010, the inaugural event proved a resounding success with approximately 240 players. Not only that, nearly $140,000 was raised for patients and families of south central Wisconsin. The two major prizes that year, a two-year lease on a Zimbrick Honda Accord LX and a seat to the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, were won by Art Luetke and Joe Anderson respectively. The tournament itself was won by a poker pro — none other than Madison native and personal friend of Hellmuth, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon. Interestingly, a Hellmuth made the final table that year, though it was Phil Hellmuth Sr. showing his son how it’s done.
This year, organizers are expecting an even bigger turnout and have prepped for a 400-plus field. For those interested in attending, there are three ticket options available:
All-Access Ticket: $1,000/person. Includes poker, food, entertainment, VIP access and admission to a poker academy held on Friday, Dec. 16 where they’ll have the opportunity to learn from the pros. They also receive a free add-on at the first break of the tournament.
VIP Ticket: $500/person includes poker, floor, entertainment, and VIP access.
Poker Ticket: $300/person includes poker, food, entertainment, and VIP access.
Entertainment Ticket: $100/person for food, entertainment and excitement.
“Basically what we do is take the entire Madison poker community and we have them be dealers, that’s how we pull it off,” Verrett, said. “They all volunteer to deal. We’ve secured 48 tables, so 48 times nine, we can go up to 432 players.”
"It will be tough to top last year's jet-fueled, energy-laced event! But we aim to, when I hit Mad-town for Phil Hellmuth's Hold’em with HospiceCare 2011 on December 17," Hellmuth said. “This is going to be the night to remember in Madison, all to help Agrace HospiceCare and the good it does for the community.”
Agrace HospiceCare is a nonprofit, community-based hospice dedicated to providing expert physical, emotional and spiritual support to patients and families dealing with life-limiting conditions. Agrace HospiceCare is nationally recognized for its comprehensive in-home, inpatient, respite, and residential care, and the hospice services Agrace HospiceCare provides in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities throughout south central Wisconsin."
At the event, a mix of poker pros and local celebrities will be in attendance and serving as Hellmuth’s guests, who will be moved from table to table during the tournament to socialize with participants. Poker pros who are slated to attend include Annette Obrestad, Dewey Weum, Tony “D1rtyR1v3r” Nardi, and Wisconsin native, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, who was featured on the PokerNews Podcast recently.
Former NFL and UW Badgers football player, Derek Engler, professional golfer, Jerry Kelly, Olympic gold medalist Casey FitzRandolph, Madison mayor, Paul Soglin, UW Badgers women’s hockey coach and member of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team, Mark Johnson, and local news anchors Carleen Wild, Charlie Shortino, and Leigh Mills are among the athletes and celebrities scheduled to attend.
“That’s what we’re trying to do, to get the guys who’re coming home for the holidays. That’s how we get Baldwin and Phil,” said tournament director and event organizer, Steve Verrett. “Actually, that’s how we started this was with Phil coming home for the holidays and having him do a charity event. We came up with this idea and it got really big last year. It’s a great time.”
In 2010, the inaugural event proved a resounding success with approximately 240 players. Not only that, nearly $140,000 was raised for patients and families of south central Wisconsin. The two major prizes that year, a two-year lease on a Zimbrick Honda Accord LX and a seat to the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, were won by Art Luetke and Joe Anderson respectively. The tournament itself was won by a poker pro — none other than Madison native and personal friend of Hellmuth, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon. Interestingly, a Hellmuth made the final table that year, though it was Phil Hellmuth Sr. showing his son how it’s done.
This year, organizers are expecting an even bigger turnout and have prepped for a 400-plus field. For those interested in attending, there are three ticket options available:
All-Access Ticket: $1,000/person. Includes poker, food, entertainment, VIP access and admission to a poker academy held on Friday, Dec. 16 where they’ll have the opportunity to learn from the pros. They also receive a free add-on at the first break of the tournament.
VIP Ticket: $500/person includes poker, floor, entertainment, and VIP access.
Poker Ticket: $300/person includes poker, food, entertainment, and VIP access.
Entertainment Ticket: $100/person for food, entertainment and excitement.
“Basically what we do is take the entire Madison poker community and we have them be dealers, that’s how we pull it off,” Verrett, said. “They all volunteer to deal. We’ve secured 48 tables, so 48 times nine, we can go up to 432 players.”
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2006/12/07
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29893
The Epic Poker League has announced that they're entering a "content partnership" with USA Today that will see the league's Global Poker Index printed weekly in both print and online editions of the newspaper, familiar to millions of businessmen across America as that thing they find sitting on their hotel room's doorstep every morning. The GPI, which ranks the top 300 live tournament players in the world on a weekly basis, will be presented to readers as the "USA Today Global Poker Index." In addition, Epic Poker will be the exclusive poker content provider for Big Lead Sports, a popular online sports site that covers a broad variety of games.
"Our work with the USA Today Sports Media Group and Big Lead Sports will help drive poker deeper into the mainstream news cycle and further position the game right alongside other professional sports content," said Jeffrey Pollack, the executive chairman of the Epic Poker and Federated Sports + Gaming.
The Epic Poker League has had an interesting launch, crowning two Main Event Champions in the form of Chino Rheem ($1,000,000 in August) and Mike McDonald ($782,410) in September and televised coverage that has surprised a lot of people with its professionalism considering the newness of the organization.
"Our work with the USA Today Sports Media Group and Big Lead Sports will help drive poker deeper into the mainstream news cycle and further position the game right alongside other professional sports content," said Jeffrey Pollack, the executive chairman of the Epic Poker and Federated Sports + Gaming.
The Epic Poker League has had an interesting launch, crowning two Main Event Champions in the form of Chino Rheem ($1,000,000 in August) and Mike McDonald ($782,410) in September and televised coverage that has surprised a lot of people with its professionalism considering the newness of the organization.
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2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Multi-tabling is a thing that only the online poker revolution could have brought about.
If you're not familiar with the term, the name says it all: it's the act of playing at more than one poker table at the same time. Live casino players can never have the opportunity to multi-table but online, it's extremely common. If you're interested in multi-tabling, there's some basics you need to cover.
Advantages
Players get to see more hands per hour. If you play poker well, you'll win more money.
Increased interest in the game. It's hard to get bored when you're playing in two games at the same time.
Disadvantages
It's hard to focus when playing at multiple tables. Just as you can avoid boredom, you can lose interest in any single game and make mistakes.
There's no social interaction. Yes, online poker is more about the game than seeing your friends, but you lose a lot of what makes poker fun.
If you're going to multi-table, I recommend staying in lower-limit games for the most part and stick to purely mathematical poker, at least in the beginning. It's very difficult to be a "clever" player when multi-tabling and I recommend you stick to two tables at most for the first few weeks.
Bodog Poker
If you're not familiar with the term, the name says it all: it's the act of playing at more than one poker table at the same time. Live casino players can never have the opportunity to multi-table but online, it's extremely common. If you're interested in multi-tabling, there's some basics you need to cover.
Advantages
Players get to see more hands per hour. If you play poker well, you'll win more money.
Increased interest in the game. It's hard to get bored when you're playing in two games at the same time.
Disadvantages
It's hard to focus when playing at multiple tables. Just as you can avoid boredom, you can lose interest in any single game and make mistakes.
There's no social interaction. Yes, online poker is more about the game than seeing your friends, but you lose a lot of what makes poker fun.
If you're going to multi-table, I recommend staying in lower-limit games for the most part and stick to purely mathematical poker, at least in the beginning. It's very difficult to be a "clever" player when multi-tabling and I recommend you stick to two tables at most for the first few weeks.
Bodog Poker
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2006/12/07
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29893
Few moments of a tournament are more apprehensive than those approaching the final table. While the pay is certainly better than if you go out during early levels, and the decisions aren't for as much equity as those made at the final table itself, the most devastating hands of poker are those that go awry and cause you to bust leading up to the final table.
But Vanessa Rousso had no intention of letting that happen leading up to the final table at the World Poker Tour's Bellagio Five Diamond Classic in December, and instead she made one of the biggest soul-reads of her career against cunning professional and eventual champion Antonio Esfandiari.
With just 14 players left on Day Five of the event, Esfandiari, the chip leader, raised the $10,000-$20,000 blinds under the gun to $53,000 and was called by Rousso one off the button. WPT Borgata runner-up Kia Mohajeri called out of the big blind, and they saw a three-handed flop that came 8 of hearts, 8 of clubs, 4 of spades.
After Mohajeri checked, Esfandiari fired out $111,000, leading to a call from Rousso and a fold from Mohajeri. The turn brought the 8d and a bet of $260,000 from Esfandiari. Rousso thought for a couple minutes, then placed the necessary chips in the pot.
The river brought the harmless 7 of clubs, and Esfandiari thought for a moment before announcing that he was all in. Esfandiari began the hand with about $2.5 million in chips against the $1.2 million of Rousso, meaning
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that his river bet was for a little under $800,000. Rousso began talking to Esfandiari while staring him down in consideration of her decision, saying, "You don't look scared at all, Antonio," then eventually asking, "What do you think I have? Anything?"
Esfandiari sat silent. Eventually, Rousso announced that she was calling and turned over pocket 10 of spades for a full house. Esfandiari mucked his hand, and Rousso announced to the table: "Oh my god, that was the hardest thing ever!"
Both players deserve a lot of credit. Although Esfandiari's bluff didn't work, he applied an enormous amount of pressure to his opponent at one of the most crucial moments in the tournament, almost resulting in the fold he needed. Even more impressive was Rousso calling off her entire stack in a situation where guessing wrong would have been a fatal error.
Rousso deduced that Esfandiari was representing a polarized range -- meaning that he either had one of the few combinations of better hands, like a big pair, or he had nothing and was bluffing -- and then realized that Esfandiari was a clever enough player to recognize that making a bluff at this moment in the tournament would put her to an extremely difficult decision. It's no surprise that she considered the call-down to be the best of her career.
But Vanessa Rousso had no intention of letting that happen leading up to the final table at the World Poker Tour's Bellagio Five Diamond Classic in December, and instead she made one of the biggest soul-reads of her career against cunning professional and eventual champion Antonio Esfandiari.
With just 14 players left on Day Five of the event, Esfandiari, the chip leader, raised the $10,000-$20,000 blinds under the gun to $53,000 and was called by Rousso one off the button. WPT Borgata runner-up Kia Mohajeri called out of the big blind, and they saw a three-handed flop that came 8 of hearts, 8 of clubs, 4 of spades.
After Mohajeri checked, Esfandiari fired out $111,000, leading to a call from Rousso and a fold from Mohajeri. The turn brought the 8d and a bet of $260,000 from Esfandiari. Rousso thought for a couple minutes, then placed the necessary chips in the pot.
The river brought the harmless 7 of clubs, and Esfandiari thought for a moment before announcing that he was all in. Esfandiari began the hand with about $2.5 million in chips against the $1.2 million of Rousso, meaning
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that his river bet was for a little under $800,000. Rousso began talking to Esfandiari while staring him down in consideration of her decision, saying, "You don't look scared at all, Antonio," then eventually asking, "What do you think I have? Anything?"
Esfandiari sat silent. Eventually, Rousso announced that she was calling and turned over pocket 10 of spades for a full house. Esfandiari mucked his hand, and Rousso announced to the table: "Oh my god, that was the hardest thing ever!"
Both players deserve a lot of credit. Although Esfandiari's bluff didn't work, he applied an enormous amount of pressure to his opponent at one of the most crucial moments in the tournament, almost resulting in the fold he needed. Even more impressive was Rousso calling off her entire stack in a situation where guessing wrong would have been a fatal error.
Rousso deduced that Esfandiari was representing a polarized range -- meaning that he either had one of the few combinations of better hands, like a big pair, or he had nothing and was bluffing -- and then realized that Esfandiari was a clever enough player to recognize that making a bluff at this moment in the tournament would put her to an extremely difficult decision. It's no surprise that she considered the call-down to be the best of her career.
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2006/12/07
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Two of the men named in April’s sweeping indictments against the major online poker sites appeared in federal court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing, according to Forbes.
According to allegations, John Campos, a former vice-chairman of SunFirst Bank, processed the illegal Internet gambling transactions at the request of Las Vegas businessman Chad Elie.
Forbes reported that in the hearing federal judge Lewis Kaplan was cold to arguments levied by the attorneys for the defendants.
The trial is scheduled for March.
Campos and Elie were arrested in Utah and Nevada respectively in April. Campos was released on $25,000 bail and Elie was released on $250,000.
According to allegations, John Campos, a former vice-chairman of SunFirst Bank, processed the illegal Internet gambling transactions at the request of Las Vegas businessman Chad Elie.
Forbes reported that in the hearing federal judge Lewis Kaplan was cold to arguments levied by the attorneys for the defendants.
The trial is scheduled for March.
Campos and Elie were arrested in Utah and Nevada respectively in April. Campos was released on $25,000 bail and Elie was released on $250,000.
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2006/12/07
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Facebook poker megalith Zynga has announced that they're going for a reasonable stock price in their IPO, aiming for somewhere between $8.50 and $10 a share in order to raise up to $1.15 billion. Investors say that the price range, combined with the number of shares being issued, mean that the San Francisco-based software company could be worth up to $9 billion. Zynga's first foray into social gaming was their stunningly popular poker app for Facebook and that was a little over four years ago.
It's sort of a turbulent time for the market, so Zynga's decision to go ahead with an IPO is causing some vexation among the cognoscenti. Throw in the fact that December is traditionally a very conservative month for investors and you have what could be a dud, but the company seems very confident, doing a road show on Monday to visit NASDAQ and get investors on board before the IPO, which will happen two weeks later.
The company, whose Facebook, iPhone and iPad games are played by more than 150 million users a month made a profit of $90.6 million on $597.5 million in revenue in 2010. Most of this came from advertising and selling virtual goods for its games, which include Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker and Words with Friends. A year earlier, Zynga reported a $52.8 million loss on $121.5 million in sales.
It's sort of a turbulent time for the market, so Zynga's decision to go ahead with an IPO is causing some vexation among the cognoscenti. Throw in the fact that December is traditionally a very conservative month for investors and you have what could be a dud, but the company seems very confident, doing a road show on Monday to visit NASDAQ and get investors on board before the IPO, which will happen two weeks later.
The company, whose Facebook, iPhone and iPad games are played by more than 150 million users a month made a profit of $90.6 million on $597.5 million in revenue in 2010. Most of this came from advertising and selling virtual goods for its games, which include Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker and Words with Friends. A year earlier, Zynga reported a $52.8 million loss on $121.5 million in sales.
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2006/12/07
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Every online poker room offers a deposit bonus of some kind, but nobody rewards new online poker players more quickly than Bodog Poker, period.
The place that's bringing the fun back to online poker offers players an aggressive bonus schedule that allows you to get up to $1100 back on your deposit and all you have to do is play like you normally would! Every ten poker points earned while playing at Bodog's online poker tables gets you $1 in additional bonus dollars – when you have earned 100 poker points, you're issued your first bonus of $10.
Here's an example: you deposit $100 with Bodog. You instantly receive a $10 bonus from them. When you earn 100 points, you get an additional $10 for your bankroll. When you earn 500 points, you get an additional $40 and so on up to $1100! All you have to do is keep playing to earn even more points and bigger bonuses, even if you make more than one deposit. To sweeten the pot, Bodog gets you your money fast – other sites make you wait to get your bonus cash in your bankroll, Bodog issues bonuses to players the day after they earn the required points.
Want to know more? Get all the details when you visit the Bodog Instant Online Poker Deposit Bonus page today!
The place that's bringing the fun back to online poker offers players an aggressive bonus schedule that allows you to get up to $1100 back on your deposit and all you have to do is play like you normally would! Every ten poker points earned while playing at Bodog's online poker tables gets you $1 in additional bonus dollars – when you have earned 100 poker points, you're issued your first bonus of $10.
Here's an example: you deposit $100 with Bodog. You instantly receive a $10 bonus from them. When you earn 100 points, you get an additional $10 for your bankroll. When you earn 500 points, you get an additional $40 and so on up to $1100! All you have to do is keep playing to earn even more points and bigger bonuses, even if you make more than one deposit. To sweeten the pot, Bodog gets you your money fast – other sites make you wait to get your bonus cash in your bankroll, Bodog issues bonuses to players the day after they earn the required points.
Want to know more? Get all the details when you visit the Bodog Instant Online Poker Deposit Bonus page today!
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2006/12/07
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Card Player had published a report back in February about Bodog Poker’s decision to block all data mining software from accessing the site in a bid to develop a larger base of recreational poker players. The online poker room had announced in February that it would block all data mining sites and software that receive information from the site. Explaining the move, Patrik Selin, a spokesperson for Bodog, said that online poker sites are actually contributing to their own downfall by encouraging data mining sites and software. He also announced Bodog’s decision to do away with HUDs, hand histories, and rake backs. This Wednesday, the online poker site announced that it will be introducing anonymous poker tables, which will effectively block HUDs (Heads up Displays) and prevent data mining sites and software from gaining access to valuable player statistics.
Jonas Odman, one of the representatives of Bodog Poker, said: “We believe that introducing these features makes the Bodog Recreational Poker Model a pioneer in the online poker world and offers all players of all abilities the fairest place to play. We have shown before that we are not afraid of controversy by changing the way rakeback was viewed and starting to block data mining sites earlier this year and these new features now give players a less biased ‘pure poker’ experience. To my mind the software and Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model is a genuine game changer.”
Besides anonymous poker tables, Bodog will also introduce a new feature called rabbit cam, which will enable players to view the cards that might have been dealt even after winning the hand.
Bodog has also announced the introduction of other features such as increased site speed, a facility enabling players to play a maximum of 20 poker tables simultaneously, new poker tournament formats, and in-client blackjack, among others.
Bodog also upgraded its software a few months back, adding features that greatly increased players’ gaming experience. The software modifications enable quick and easy access to the site’s gaming portfolio, various shortcuts to speed up gaming experience, and an enhanced login system, to mention just a few. All this makes Bodog a poker site worth checking out.
Poker players who are interested in trying out anonymous poker must first sign up at Bodog. If they are readers of Card Player, they will receive a special deposit bonus as large as $1,100. Besides, Bodog is home to plenty of incredible promotions and thrilling offers.
Jonas Odman, one of the representatives of Bodog Poker, said: “We believe that introducing these features makes the Bodog Recreational Poker Model a pioneer in the online poker world and offers all players of all abilities the fairest place to play. We have shown before that we are not afraid of controversy by changing the way rakeback was viewed and starting to block data mining sites earlier this year and these new features now give players a less biased ‘pure poker’ experience. To my mind the software and Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model is a genuine game changer.”
Besides anonymous poker tables, Bodog will also introduce a new feature called rabbit cam, which will enable players to view the cards that might have been dealt even after winning the hand.
Bodog has also announced the introduction of other features such as increased site speed, a facility enabling players to play a maximum of 20 poker tables simultaneously, new poker tournament formats, and in-client blackjack, among others.
Bodog also upgraded its software a few months back, adding features that greatly increased players’ gaming experience. The software modifications enable quick and easy access to the site’s gaming portfolio, various shortcuts to speed up gaming experience, and an enhanced login system, to mention just a few. All this makes Bodog a poker site worth checking out.
Poker players who are interested in trying out anonymous poker must first sign up at Bodog. If they are readers of Card Player, they will receive a special deposit bonus as large as $1,100. Besides, Bodog is home to plenty of incredible promotions and thrilling offers.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Representative Barney Frank has decided to quit once his term comes to an end, a decision that has shocked the Massachusetts Democratic Party, which is slowly losing its previous glamour. In fact, some of the well-known politicians in the state are the Republicans Mitt Romney and Senator Scott Brown. Jeffery Berry, professor of political science at Tufts University, said: “For a long time, Massachusetts Democrats have felt they played a special role in the national Democratic Party. I think that has gone at this point. There is no one in Congress from Massachusetts who has that stature now.”
Barney Frank’s announcement to quit follows on the heels of another announcement made by John Olver, a House Appropriations Panel member and representative of Massachusetts, that he will not seek re-election. These negative developments, added to Senator Edward Kennedy’s death in 2009 and the fact that Massachusetts lost a house seat, has left Democrats wondering if they have well and truly lost their past glory.
John Kerry, the senior senator of the state, is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and functions as a global troubleshooter for the Obama government. However, if Obama gets re-elected, the chances of Kerry being appointed as the secretary of state are high, which means that Massachusetts will lose a powerful Senate presence.
The decline of the Democrats in Massachusetts is because of certain demographic changes. Unlike Southwestern and Southern states, Massachusetts has witnessed a decline in its population, owing to which it lost one of its 10 Congress seats. According to a senior politician, Barney Frank decided to quit because he did not like the idea of “running in a newly redrawn district with 325,000 new constituents, combined with the Democrats’ loss of control of the House.”
Speaking on his decision, Frank said: “One of the advantages to me of not running for office is that I don’t even have to pretend to be nice to people I don’t like.”
The politicians of Massachusetts once held the post of the House Speaker for nearly two decades. While John McCormack was the speaker from 1962 – 71, Thomas P. was in the post from 1977 – 87. During those years, John F. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, became the president while Edward started his 50-year-old career in the Senate.
Although it has lost a consideration chunk of its population, Massachusetts continued dreaming big, with Kerry and Dukakis getting nominated for president, but losing the general elections.
Barney Frank’s announcement to quit follows on the heels of another announcement made by John Olver, a House Appropriations Panel member and representative of Massachusetts, that he will not seek re-election. These negative developments, added to Senator Edward Kennedy’s death in 2009 and the fact that Massachusetts lost a house seat, has left Democrats wondering if they have well and truly lost their past glory.
John Kerry, the senior senator of the state, is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and functions as a global troubleshooter for the Obama government. However, if Obama gets re-elected, the chances of Kerry being appointed as the secretary of state are high, which means that Massachusetts will lose a powerful Senate presence.
The decline of the Democrats in Massachusetts is because of certain demographic changes. Unlike Southwestern and Southern states, Massachusetts has witnessed a decline in its population, owing to which it lost one of its 10 Congress seats. According to a senior politician, Barney Frank decided to quit because he did not like the idea of “running in a newly redrawn district with 325,000 new constituents, combined with the Democrats’ loss of control of the House.”
Speaking on his decision, Frank said: “One of the advantages to me of not running for office is that I don’t even have to pretend to be nice to people I don’t like.”
The politicians of Massachusetts once held the post of the House Speaker for nearly two decades. While John McCormack was the speaker from 1962 – 71, Thomas P. was in the post from 1977 – 87. During those years, John F. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, became the president while Edward started his 50-year-old career in the Senate.
Although it has lost a consideration chunk of its population, Massachusetts continued dreaming big, with Kerry and Dukakis getting nominated for president, but losing the general elections.
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2006/12/07
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Launched Nov. 17 from Las Vegas, Bubble Protection is only available for players who live in countries where online poker is legal. “It might be easier to be a European company,” said Eugene Castro, the founder and chief executive of Bubble Protection. “But our goal is to cover the world, and we think in the future, 60 percent of online poker will be U.S.-based.”
Online poker in the U.S. is stuck in a legal muddle. Before feds seized the web domains of the top three online poker sites in America on April 15, 2011, an estimated 10 million Americans were playing for money. Although it’s unlikely the online poker would be legal in the U.S. before 2013, companies like Bubble Protection are already making a move on what they predict will be a massive industry.
Earlier this month, two Las Vegas-based casino companies, MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming announced they were teaming up with bwin.party, a Gibraltar-based online gaming development company, to jointly offer online poker in the U.S. The three companies formed the partnership in expectation of eventual legalization.
“You look at announcements like that from [MGM CEO] Jim Murren, and you can start to see how big this is going to be for the gaming industry,” said Castro.
Bubble Protection built its plan around protecting players who are “on the bubble.” In poker tournaments, the bubble refers to the last person to leave a game without taking any winnings. So if the top ten players in a tournament are guaranteed to take something home, the person who comes in 11th is on the bubble.
In this case, Bubble Protection expanded the bubble to include 10 percent of the total number of players in a tournament. Their coverage lets players insure their tournament entry fees, giving back the cost to entry to anyone who finishes in their bigger bubble. For a game with a $33 buy-in, bubble protection costs $3.96.
In the two weeks since going live through their website, BubbleProtection.com, Castro says hundreds of policies have been purchased, with about 50 policies in play at any given moment. They’ve also received a lot of customer emails—almost 800 in this week alone—mostly with questions about their coverage, since Bubble Protection is the first, and right now, the only, in the world of online poker insurance.
Castro’s company serves as a bridge between the worlds of online gaming and insurance. They’ve received a warm reception from the gaming industry, which hopes the insurance option will draw more players. Yet, most of their funding has come from the insurance industry, which Castro says sees how the situation is set up to benefit both the player and the gaming provider.
The one group that hasn’t gotten on board yet is advertisers. “No mainstream advertisers will attach to poker,” Castro said. “But that time will come.”
Castro thinks that once online poker is legalized in the U.S., well-known companies will be scrambling to sponsor online tournaments. “The minute the switch is flipped, the industry will open up.”
Online poker in the U.S. is stuck in a legal muddle. Before feds seized the web domains of the top three online poker sites in America on April 15, 2011, an estimated 10 million Americans were playing for money. Although it’s unlikely the online poker would be legal in the U.S. before 2013, companies like Bubble Protection are already making a move on what they predict will be a massive industry.
Earlier this month, two Las Vegas-based casino companies, MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming announced they were teaming up with bwin.party, a Gibraltar-based online gaming development company, to jointly offer online poker in the U.S. The three companies formed the partnership in expectation of eventual legalization.
“You look at announcements like that from [MGM CEO] Jim Murren, and you can start to see how big this is going to be for the gaming industry,” said Castro.
Bubble Protection built its plan around protecting players who are “on the bubble.” In poker tournaments, the bubble refers to the last person to leave a game without taking any winnings. So if the top ten players in a tournament are guaranteed to take something home, the person who comes in 11th is on the bubble.
In this case, Bubble Protection expanded the bubble to include 10 percent of the total number of players in a tournament. Their coverage lets players insure their tournament entry fees, giving back the cost to entry to anyone who finishes in their bigger bubble. For a game with a $33 buy-in, bubble protection costs $3.96.
In the two weeks since going live through their website, BubbleProtection.com, Castro says hundreds of policies have been purchased, with about 50 policies in play at any given moment. They’ve also received a lot of customer emails—almost 800 in this week alone—mostly with questions about their coverage, since Bubble Protection is the first, and right now, the only, in the world of online poker insurance.
Castro’s company serves as a bridge between the worlds of online gaming and insurance. They’ve received a warm reception from the gaming industry, which hopes the insurance option will draw more players. Yet, most of their funding has come from the insurance industry, which Castro says sees how the situation is set up to benefit both the player and the gaming provider.
The one group that hasn’t gotten on board yet is advertisers. “No mainstream advertisers will attach to poker,” Castro said. “But that time will come.”
Castro thinks that once online poker is legalized in the U.S., well-known companies will be scrambling to sponsor online tournaments. “The minute the switch is flipped, the industry will open up.”
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2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
It has just been announced that Danish poker player Jesper Hougaard has become the latest sponsored pro at European online poker room Bet24.com.
Originally a member of the Danish Table Tennis team, Hougaard then developed an interest in poker leading to him becoming a full time pro in 2007.
That year Jesper Hougaard went on to cash in at three live tournaments for $57,610 before hitting a glorious run in 2008 in which he won an impressive $938,252. The same year, Hougaard also picked up 2 WSOP bracelets, becoming the first player in history to win bracelets in both Las Vegas and Europe, and has since gone on to accumulate $1,140,524 in live tournament earnings.
In addition to his live play, the 27 year-old from Copenhagen also is a prolific online player and has the distinction of being one of only a few player to have won the PokerStars Sunday Million on two occasions. The first time was in April 2008, when he collected $272,132, followed by victory in May 2009 for $225,000.
Jesper Hougaard will assume his duties as sponsored pro at Bet24.com. starting January 1st, 2012. He will then play under the screen name ‘pieforyou’ and also keep an active blog accessible at the Bet365 Poker website.
Commenting on his new deal with Bet24, Hougaard stated:
“I’m very excited to be signed by Bet24.com and I’m sure that with me as team captain Bet24 I can be a great ambassador to makeBet24.com the leading betting company and the natural choice for poker players in Denmark after the legislation. It feels very good to be on the winning team.”
Commenting on their latest signing, Bet24 chief executive Thomas Petersen added:
“Hougaard has always been on the top of the list when having a team captain and a great ambassador so with the upcoming legislation in Denmark we felt no other choice then to start this collaboration.”
Originally a member of the Danish Table Tennis team, Hougaard then developed an interest in poker leading to him becoming a full time pro in 2007.
That year Jesper Hougaard went on to cash in at three live tournaments for $57,610 before hitting a glorious run in 2008 in which he won an impressive $938,252. The same year, Hougaard also picked up 2 WSOP bracelets, becoming the first player in history to win bracelets in both Las Vegas and Europe, and has since gone on to accumulate $1,140,524 in live tournament earnings.
In addition to his live play, the 27 year-old from Copenhagen also is a prolific online player and has the distinction of being one of only a few player to have won the PokerStars Sunday Million on two occasions. The first time was in April 2008, when he collected $272,132, followed by victory in May 2009 for $225,000.
Jesper Hougaard will assume his duties as sponsored pro at Bet24.com. starting January 1st, 2012. He will then play under the screen name ‘pieforyou’ and also keep an active blog accessible at the Bet365 Poker website.
Commenting on his new deal with Bet24, Hougaard stated:
“I’m very excited to be signed by Bet24.com and I’m sure that with me as team captain Bet24 I can be a great ambassador to makeBet24.com the leading betting company and the natural choice for poker players in Denmark after the legislation. It feels very good to be on the winning team.”
Commenting on their latest signing, Bet24 chief executive Thomas Petersen added:
“Hougaard has always been on the top of the list when having a team captain and a great ambassador so with the upcoming legislation in Denmark we felt no other choice then to start this collaboration.”
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
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"Our work with the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Big Lead Sports will help drive poker deeper into the mainstream news cycle and further position the game right alongside other professional sports content," said Jeffrey Pollack, executive chairman of the Epic Poker and its parent company, Federated Sports + Gaming.
Each week, print editions of USA TODAY will publish the latest GPI(TM) updates, which will be presented to readers as the "USA TODAY Global Poker Index." The first announcement of each week's revised rankings will also be available online at The Global Poker Index: Ranking the top 300 players - USATODAY-com .
"More Americans are playing and watching poker than ever before, and this partnership will enable us to provide that avid, growing audience with the content they want," said Tom Beusse, president of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group. "The USA TODAY Global Poker Index will give our readers access to new and relevant content that's easy to track and understand. It will also help open up the game of poker to the casual fan as well."
Building on the USA TODAY Sports Media Group partnership, Epic Poker has also teamed up with Big Lead Sports, the leading U.S. online sports property with more than 20 million monthly unique visitors, to become its exclusive source of poker news and information. The exclusive content will include highlights from tournament action featuring the world's best professional poker players, reporting from Epic Poker's team of trusted poker feature writers, and video teasers and content from the Epic Poker League.
Furthermore, the commissioner of the Epic Poker League and 2011 poker Hall of Fame nominee, Annie Duke, will provide valuable insight into not only the sport of poker but also the current events taking place throughout the entire sporting world with her exclusive weekly blog on thebiglead-com.
"Partnering with Epic Poker will enable us to offer our fans top-notch coverage and insights into everything happening in the world of poker," said Chris Russo, chief executive officer of Big Lead Sports. "Epic Poker's pool of talented poker feature writers will be providing coverage of all the world-class players and tournaments and will complement the already growing archive of poker news content found on EpicPoker-com."